The Flames will play their first game in Winnipeg in .78 Justins when they visit tonight to take on the Jets. It's already been quite the day in the Saddlesphere.

The Line-Up

Via Daily Faceoff:

Mike Cammalleri-Matt Stajan-Lee Stempniak

TJ Galiardi-Mikael Backlund-David Jones

Sven Baertschi-Sean Monahan-Jiri Hudler

Lance Bouma-Joe Colborne-Brian McGrattan

Chris Butler-TJ Brodie

Kris Russell-Dennis Wideman

Ladislav Smid-Shane O’Brien

Reto Berra

Bob Hartley's odd infatuation with Reto Berra continues. I'm not totally sure what Berra has to do to lose his "starting" job, but man, if he hasn't done it by now... Berra's .888 EVSV% is just .004 points higher than Joey MacDonald (.884%). I don't think that should mean Berra gets sent down, but he shouldn't be first in the pecking order anymore. The most important thing for the Flames to do this year with respect to the goaltending position is to try and get Rämö and Berra close to 1000 ES shots each so we can get closer to determining their respective talent levels. As of right now, the Flames are -11 in expected ES goal differential (Rämö -2, MacDonald -5, Berra -4), which is essentially 4 standings points.

Hearing from insiders...Coach Hartley seems to have reached a peak in frustration with Baertschi. Looks like out tonight..maybe more.#Flames

Earlier in the day, it looked as though Sven Baertschi might be a healthy scratch - thankfully, someone gave ol' Bob a call and he came to his senses. There is exactly zero wrong with the way Baertschi is playing right now, and I find it confusing how little lenience people give to a guy who just turned 21 years old. If you're concerned about his lack of scoring, right now he's 9th among Flames forwards in PP time per game. Basically, that means he isn't getting PP time, which can make up as much as 40% of a good player's scoring. If you're concerned about his lack of defensive ability, you should be more concerned with the goalies behind him more than anything else. Get over it.

If the point of having guys like Brian McGrattan is to protect players, why was Lee Stempniak allowed to be essentially assaulted by Andrew Ference on Saturday? Shouldn't McGrattan's presence prevent other teams from taking cheap shots on a top-3 forward? He should be sitting and someone in Abbotsford should have that spot.

Tim Jackman will sit. There was a day when he was a legit NHLer. No longer. Colborne is where he needs to be right now.

The Opposition

Via Daily Faceoff:

Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little-Blake Wheeler

Evander Kane-Olli Jokinen-Devin Setoguchi

Michael Frolik-Mark Scheifele-Matt Halischuk

Eric Tangradi-James Wright-Chris Thorburn

Grant Clitsome-Dustin Byfuglien

Tobias Enstrom-Keaton Ellerby

Zach Redmond-Adam Pardy

Al Montoya

Yeah, that defensive set up is pretty horrible. However, it's not exactly by design: Jacob Trouba (4), Zach Bogosian (2) and Paul Postma (5) are all out long-term, meaning that Grant Clitsome is now playing the toughest the league has to offer. Tobias Enstrom and Dustin Byfuglien are legit top-pairing guys. They're also basically the polar opposites of each other size-wise. Keaton Ellerby and Adam Pardy are, at best, replacement-level players right now.

And as @arby_18 noted, Scheifele is nowhere. It would be one thing if there were chances and no puck luck. There are no chances.

Alex Burmistrov would look mighty good playing C on that third line instead of Mark Scheifele. The latter former first-rounder has looked overwhelmed every time I've seen him this year and the underlying numbers back it up. He may yet be an impact forward at the NHL-level, but right now there's nothing positive at the NHL level for him. Ideally, Scheifele would be playing first line minutes in... well, wherever the Jets' farm team is located and Burmistrov would be helping the Jets have a third line that could actually produce.

Al Montoya will likely get the start tonight. He's looked good this season thus far (.917 EVSV%) but is being buoyed by a perfect 1.000 (12 for 12) when down a man. As a result, look for his overall SV% come down a little. I'm a little sad that Ondrej Pavelec isn't playing in this game, because thus far he's having the best season of his career. Previous to this, he's been toying with replacement level in every season he's played. Hopefully for the sake of the Jets and their fans his start is a legit improvement.

Sum It Up

The Jets, even though they're decimated by injuries, are likely a better team right now than the Flames are. That might not be true later in the season (depending on Pavelec) but who knows! Game time is 6PM on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The FAN.

Justin is a 23-year-old Flames fan who also happens to be pursuing a double major at the University of Calgary. He has played hockey at high levels, enjoys wearing shorts and tends to drink far too much Grasshopper. Please don't hate him.

Well I think the big issue here is expectations. We are heaping 'replace Iggy' expectations on marginal NHL prospects....

BUT, that issue aside, I guess the discrepancy is just in how best to handle development projects. I don't have a problem with making Sven earn his time. I'd be OK with sending him back to Abby. The last thing I want to see is anointing players who haven't earned it. We can look north to see how that works out.

The Coilers are a case study in how NOT to deal with young skill. They gave their kids 20+ minutes of ice without earning it. Guys who actually ARE elite (or at least potentially). And they suck, and are completely wasting their players.

I tend to think Detroit/Babcock would treat Sven pretty much exactly like Hartley is. I want our team to be more like Detroit and less like Edmonton. But thats just me.

Kurt, most Flame fans are thirsting for elite replacements of JBO, Iggy & Kipper. I guess you don't appreciate things until they no longer work the same or are gone. I think most fans may have a little too high of hope, not expectation. I'm finding this tough love on Sven & Backs a little perplexing. Really, this is the year we should put up with major mistakes from several young players & totally ignore the win/loss record. There definitely is too schools out there as to which environment would be the best way to develop young players. That would be a chase your tail debate, but I agree, I dont mind having Sven earn his ice time, Backlund is just mind boggling in what is happening with him.

I hope he at least gets a chance in the third to redeem himself, he wasn't playing that well before mind you, but between him or Colborne I'm still taking Backlund, at least he is more than 50% on his faceoffs.

Oh I fully agree but the defenders just watched it happen as well. When you are winning by a goal with less than 1 minute in the game there is no way they should be employing anything but the trap and the whole team was caught out of position.